2022 Recipient

We have received no applicants for our SPS Pipe Scholarship program this year. Therefore, we decided to donate the annual costs required to maintain the website making the video and audio teaching of Pipe Major William Robertson available to all for free. https://bagpipetutorials.teachable.com/

This website only requires viewers to sign up and log in to have access to what I regard as one of the finest learning tools for beginner to professional pipers alike. Please have a look through the hundreds of videos and music presentations Bill recorded before his death in 2020.

Bill was a friend to us, and he was supportive of our sponsorship of the piobaireachd composing contests; even submitting his last composition for consideration during our first year. His passing was a loss to us as mentor and friend, but we hope that by supporting his work, carried on by his family, that we keep his wishes of spreading the good sound of piping worldwide.

Pipe Major William Robertson served with The Royal Scots and achieved the Pipe Majors’ Certificate at Edinburgh Castle under PM William Ross. In 1956, Bill succeeded Hugh Fraser as Pipe Major of the 1st Battalion, and received personal tuition in piobaireachd from PM Donald MacLeod. Two years later, Bill resigned from service and moved to New Zealand, where he was a dedicated piping teacher and judge until his passing in 2020. Bill submitted his last composition to the Shasta Piping Society, and his family graciously allowed his piece, Salute to The Royal Scots, to be published in the Shasta Collection of Modern Piobaireachd.

https://www.amazon.com/Shasta-Collection.../dp/B0917P4XLY

One of Bill's earlier piobaireachd compositions, Lament for Pipe Major Hugh Fraser, can be heard here:

https://bagpipe.news/2020/06/26/pm-bill-robertson-1932-2020-nz-returns-to-live-competitions/